3 year old snack help! we’ve spiralled out of control!

[MummyDrinksWine]

My nearly 3 year old is a very good eater, not fussy and will eat and try everything.
She used to eat pretty much everything on her plate too.

However, since Ive had her brother I’ve become a bit lazy and a bit lost in our routine; I’ve found that I’ve been allowing her to have snacks more often and now we’ve spiralled out of control and she’ll fill up on snacks between meals and hardly eat anything on her plate.

now I want to get back into a healthy habit and she’s still not a fussy eater so it’s doable but I’m just not sure what is enough and what’s too much?

What would you allow between each meal snack wise? My idea is to get some Tupperware boxes and label them Mon-Sun and put her daily ‘allowance’ of snacks in there.

My thoughts were:
2 pieces of fruit
A box of raisins
A packet of crisps
A cereal bar
a cheese stick

In the hopes that she can have a piece fruit, a cereal bar and a packet of crisps and a box of raisins between breakfast and lunch (8am - 1pm) then a piece of fruit, a packet of crisps and a cheese stick between lunch and dinner (2pm - 6:30/7pm)

Is that too much between meals? Too little? At the moment she freely just goes to the cupboard, picks out what she wants and bring it to me to open.. I’m often saying no to a second packet of crisps, or a third box of raisins..

Great! That sounds good :) I think sometimes it can be boredom/habit as well.

It's way too much for a little kid between meals. One piece of fruit should be fine if she is getting a healthy breakfast. Ditch the crisps - no value in them at all.

I agree that a morning and an afternoon snack are the way forward. The rest of the time, just say 'It's not snacktime yet, sweetie' and try to distract her as best you can.

My DC (just started reception) has to take a healthy morning snack to school and snacks we've done so far are an apple, banana, orange, strawberries, carrot and cucumber sticks, cheese, crackers oatcakes, breadsticks or some homemade waffle (usually, some combination of these, like cheese and crackers or apple and breadsticks). At home, DC will also have peanut butter on toast/oatcakes with a glass of milk, but school is nut-free. You ideally want high protein/low sugar, so I'd avoid cereal bars and raisins.

We're more relaxed about the afternoon snack when we get back from school (around 3.30pm). DC might have a small piece of cake or a couple of biscuits with fruit (and another glass of milk). If DC is still hungry, it is a piece of toast with peanut butter and a glass of milk, but then nothing until dinner (usually 6pm).

We did the same during the holidays but it was quite hard work to avoid the constant niggling for snacks, so I sympathise!

@BertieBotts i was just thinking this as I’ve just done her lunch as she was asking for something to eat; she had a pretty big bowl of pasta with some cheese and then I gave her a fruit thing and she immediately got down from the table and asked for “one more sweetie(fruit thing)” “a biscuit instead” “a cereal bar” and just listed off her all her snacks until she realised I’m not giving her anything else 😂 she’s stropped off to her playroom now anyway 🙈

@Goldbar the last 6 months of constantly wanting snacks has been relentless 😂 she back in nursery from November so hopefully it all falls back into place 🤭

You have my sympathy! We had the same...it was worse when we stayed in so we ended up trying to go out most mornings!

At nursery/school/camp, the kids know snack time is snack time so don't bother asking for food at any other time. My view is that I just have to work out how to be equally ruthless at home 😂.

DD nearly 4.

We don't do snacks in general. I worry it's a slippery slope. Breakfast at 0730, lunch at 1200, supper at 1700.

If she says she's hungry in between meals she's offered a breadstick or an apple. Half the time she says no. So she can't be that hungry!

That is a lot of snacks.

I’d add meals, tbh. DS went through a phase of having breakfast at home (7am cereal or porridge), second breakfast at nursery (9:30 am fruit and toast), mid-morning fruit, lunch at 12:30, 3pm tea (small cheese sandwich, or carrots and hummous, or rice cakes and fruit), then dinner at home at 6pm (usually pasta or rice with vegetables).

So he was eating every 3 hours, but a) tiny portions, b) nutritious food with lots of fruit and veg, and c) it was filling stuff like cheese sandwich, not non-filling stuff like cereal bars.

He eats less now, but was super-hungry as a three year old for some reason.

I agree, it sounds like a lot of snacks. The easiest way to cut down is to simply "run out" - it's harder for a 3 year old to see them and not be allowed them (particularly if she's been helping herself to them), but if the cupboard is empty, she'll get the message soon enough. I would "run out" of crisps very quickly, but perhaps find some carrot sticks in the fridge instead...

Kids don't need snacks- just three meals per day. With the very occasional treat. Too much snacking leads to fat kids.

School age kids I absolutely agree don’t really need snacks (maybe something after school if dinner is going to be after 6).

Toddlers do need something, whether it is milk for very young toddlers, or some fruit or cheese or something for older kids. Doesn’t need to be much, definitely doesn’t need to be sweet, but they do need something, very few two year olds can go between midday and six pm with nothing at all. Their stomachs are small. Better to have a small healthy snack and a smaller portion of tea than have them hungry.

That sounds a lot, DS has a good appetite but doesn't get that amount of snacks, I tend to follow nursery pattern and he has breakfast around 7:30 snack at ten thirty might be apple slices with peanut butter or a banana or some cheese with a few crackers and grapes or veg sticks, humous and a couple of slices if pitta, boiled egg and soldiers on swimming days because he's ravenous, lunch at twelve thirty, snack around 3, fruit or veg sticks,or I make Porridge squares or homemade banana bread (no sugar added, I use Jamie Oliver's recipe, but use water instead of apple juice and only one spoon of honey not two), or a crumpet and some fruit etc with a cup of milk and then dinner at 5:30. He doesn't have crisps no point, no nutritional value

Going against the grain here but I don't really see the issue with snacking. DD has always been a grazer and will have good little and often throughout the day. Things like cheese, cucumber, rice cakes, the odd Organix flapjack, toast and peanut butter. At meals we just don't give her very much and don't get stressed if she doesn't finish it. I don't see anything nutritionally wrong with eating like that. Over the course of a week she's getting plenty of veg, fruit, protein, whole grain carbs and full fat dairy. She's a very active girl and not remotely overweight.

All this "slippery slope" chat seems a bit OTT for a pre-schooler and as if it could lead to issues around food. Being denied food or made to finish a whole plate of it doesn't teach them to respond to their appetite. I would just keep offering healthy choices and not get too hung up on what gets eaten precisely when.

I do agree with children learning to listen to their appetites and think this is really important. But I also think that it's easy to get into a habit of eating as an activity, if you're bored etc, it also becomes a habit. I'd prefer to wait to be asked if she's hungry between meals, offer something tasty (apple) but not exciting/a treat (biscuits). If she's hungry she'll eat it, but if she's just looking for something to do she won't.

I think one item in the morning and one in the afternoon would usually be enough. I'd do a set snack time where you sit down together to eat and/or drink something (so you can just have a cup of tea if you don't want a snack yourself). It will be a bit painful at first if she is used to having a snack whenever she wants one, but most children adapt to new routines quickly. And I'd put all the food out of reach so she can't help herself.

@Mojoj I agree too much snacking definitely contributes to child obesity. But my toddler definitely couldn’t do without some form of snack between meals at the moment. She was born very small due to IUGR and still hadn’t quite caught up, she’s quite thin and I’m often worried she’s too skinny and not eating enough; which is probably why I’ve been so lenient with snacks too. But I don’t want her to become unhealthy or reliant on snacks and crap between meals like we have been over my maternity.

Yesterday she was offered the choice or a banana or apple for her morning snack. Then her afternoon snack was two crackers with cream cheese and cherry tomatoes on top.

She ate the entirety of her lunch (chicken noodle soup with a bagel for dipping) - but didn’t eat much of her dinner which was pork, potatoes and corn on the cob. She devoured the corn, had a couple bits of potato, usually love broccoli but only had one bite and didn’t like the pork.. which thinking about it she hasn’t eaten pork the last few times we’ve had it so maybe it’s just something she isn’t keen on. She was however offered a second corn on the cob as I was worried she would be hungry before bed ☹️

@MummyDrinksWine sounds great OP! I find that our toddler really only eats one big meal a day, either lunch or dinner. If he eats really well at one, he'll often pick at the other. I think it's probably just them eating what their bodies need and as long as it's all pretty nutritious then it's fine.

Hi OP,
My daughter is a toddler and this is our routine:

Breakfast between 7 and 8: something hearty, yesterday eggs and Oatmeal with nuts and raisins and blueberries mixed in, today will be a whole wheat bagel (half) with veggie cream cheese and chicken sausage and some fruit

Lunch between 11 and 12: usually Leftovers like spaghetti with roasted veggies and cheese and some yogurt and maybe some chickpeas

4pm a hearty snack: whole grain waffle with peanut butter, or avocado toast

Dinner: some of whatever we're having on her tray

She usually eats well two of the meals and not much the other two. I try not to stress if she doesn't eat much, she doesn't seem to be food/texture avoidance so I think if she's hungry she'll eat! We were pretty set on wanting her to have proper meals rather than snacking, I didn't grow up with a lot of snacks in the house and it worked ok for me!